Rich countries like China and Japan must stop funding coal-fired power plants in poorer countries in the fight against climate change, according to Rachel Kyte, who previously served as the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy and Sustainable Energy’s chief executive officer for All.
Kyte, who is now the dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, said that “coal has no place in the race for zero carbon emissions by 2050”.
“We need those countries that have coal to manage their own energy transition. And we have to stop funding coal in countries, especially in low-income countries,” she told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Friday.
Kyte’s comments come after South Korea’s President Moon Jae announced at a climate summit convened by US President Joe Biden Thursday that the country would stop all new overseas coal-fired power plant financing.
“To become climate neutral, it is imperative for the world to downsize coal-fired power plants,” said Moon, adding that developing countries facing challenges due to their reliance on coal should be given due consideration and access to adequate support. “”
Kyte marked South Korea’s step in the right direction and urged China and Japan to do the same.
“That is good with Korea’s announcement that it will stop overseas funding,” she noted. “That leaves Japan and China, as the two countries are still saying they will fund coal overseas. It will take us this year for both of them to find a way to get out of this commitment.”
Both China and Japan are heavy coal consumers and have been criticized by environmental groups for failing to take stronger steps to end their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels.
Even if the US and Europe make significant commitments to reduce their carbon emissions, according to Kyte, western countries still lack efforts to help less developed countries make their transition from coal.
“Also important is that the rest of the world has some kind of big deal on the table to help countries that may have been coal-fired in the past transform renewable and green energy,” said Kyte.
“We haven’t fully seen these types of financial commitments at this summit, so there is a lot to be done at the G-7 in the UK and the G-20 in Italy later this year,” she added.
